Thumamah ibn Uthal - Biographies of the Companions (Sahabah)

In the sixth year after the hijrah, the Prophet, may the blessings of
God be on him, decided to expand the scope of his mission.He sent
eight letters to rulers in the Arabian peninsula and surrounding areas
inviting them to Islam. One of these rulers wasThumamah ibn Uthal.
Thumamah was one of the mostpowerful Arab rulers in pre-Quranic times.
This is not surprising since he was a chieftain of the Banu Hanifah
and one of the rulers of al-Yamamah whose word no one dared to
challenge or disobey.
When Thumamah received the Prophet's letter, he was consumed by anger
and rejectedit. He refused to listen to the invitation of Truth and
goodness. More than that, he felt a strong desire to go and killthe
Prophet and bury his mission with him.
Thumamah waited and waited for a convenient time to carry out his
design against the Prophet until eventually forgetfulness caused him
to loseinterest. One of his uncles, however, reminded him of his plan,
praising what he intended to do.
In the pursuit of his evil design against the Prophet, Thumamah met
and killed a group of the Prophet's companions. The Prophet thereupon
declared hima wanted man who could lawfully be killed on sight. Not
long afterwards, Thumamah decided to perform umrah. He wanted to
perform tawaf around the Kabah and sacrifice to the idols there. So he
left al-Yamamah for Makkah. As he was passing near Madinah, an
incident took place which he had not anticipated.
Groups of Muslims were patrolling the districts of Madinah and
outlying areas on the lookout for any strangers or anyone intent on
causing trouble. One of these groups came upon Thumamah and
apprehended him but they did not know who he was. They took him to
Madinah and tied him to one of the columns in themosque. They waited
for the Prophet himself to question the man and decide what should be
done with him.
When the Prophet was about to enter the mosque, he saw Thumamah and
asked his companions, 'Do you know whom you have taken?"
"No, messenger of God," they replied.
"This is Thumamah ibn Uthal al-Hanafi," he said. "You have done well
in capturing him."
The Prophet then returned home to his family and said,"Get what food
you can and send it to Thumamah ibn Uthal."He then ordered his camel
to be milked for him. All this was donebefore he met Thumamah or had
spoken to him.
The Prophet then approached Thumamah hoping to encouragehim to become
a Muslim. "What do you have to say for yourself?"he asked.
"If you want to kill in reprisal," Thumamah replied, "you can have
someone of noble blood to kill. If, out of your bounty, you want to
forgive, I shall be grateful. If you want money in compensation, I
shall give you whatever amount you ask."
The Prophet then left him for two days, but still personally sent him
food and drink and milk from his camel. The Prophet went back to him
and asked, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Thumamah repeated
what he had said the day before. The Prophet then leftand came back to
him the following day. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he
asked again and Thumamah repeated what he had said once more. Then the
Prophet turned to his companions and said, "Sethim free."
Thumamah left the mosque of the Prophet and rode until he came to a
palm grove on the outskirts of Madinah near al-Baqi' (a place of
luxuriant vegetation which later became acemetery for many of the
Prophet's companions). He watered his camel and washed himself well.
Then he turned back and made his way to the Prophet's mosque. There,
he stood before a congregation of Muslims and said: "I bear witness
that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His
servant and His messenger." He then went tothe Prophet, upon whom be
peace, and said: "O Muhammad, by God, there was never on this earth a
face more detestable than yours. Now, yours is the dearest face of all
to me." "I have killed some of your men," he continued, "I am at your
mercy. What will you have done to me?"
"There is now no blame on you, Thumamah," replied the Prophet.
"Becoming a Muslim obliterates past actions and marks a new
beginning."
Thumamah was greatly relieved.His face showed his surprise andjoy and
he vowed, "By God, I shall place my whole self, my sword, and whoever
is with me at your service and at the serviceof your religion."
"O Rasulullah," he went on,"when your horsemen captured me I was on my
way to perform umrah. What do you think I should do now?"
"Go ahead and perform your umrah," replied the Prophet,"but perform it
according to the laws of God and His messenger."The Prophet then
taught him how to perform umrah according to Islamic rules.
Thumamah left to fulfill his intention. When he reached the valley of
Makkah, he began shouting in a loud, resonant voice:
"Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. Labbayka Laa shareeka Laka labbayk. Innal
hamda wan ni'mata Laka wall mulk. Laa shareeka Lak. (Here I am at Your
command O Lord, Here I am. Here I am. No partner have You. Here I am.
Praise, bounty and Dominion belong to You. No partner have You.")
He was thus the first Muslim on the face of the earth to enter Makkah
reciting the talbiyah.
The Quraysh heard the sound of the talbiyah and felt both anger and
alarm. With drawn swords, they set out towards the voice to punish the
one who had thus assaulted their preserve. As they came closer to him,
Thumamah raised his voice even higher while reciting the talbiyah and
looked upon them with pride and defiance. One of the Qurayshyoung men
was particularly incensed and was about to shoot Thumamah with an
arrowwhen the others grabbed his hand and shouted:
"Woe to you! Do you know who this is? He is Thumamah ibn Uthal, ruler
of al-Yamamah. By God, if you should harm him, his people would cut
our supplies, with dire consequences for us."
Swords were replaced in their scabbards as the Quraysh went up to
Thumamah and said:
"What's wrong with you, Thumamah? Have you given in and abandoned your
religion and the religion of your forefathers?"
"I have not given in," he replied,"but I have decided to follow
thebest religion. I follow the religion of Muhammad. "
He then went on: "I swear to you by the Lord of this House that after
my return to al-Yamamah, no grain of wheat or any of its produce shall
reach you until you follow Muhammad."
Under the watchful eyes of the Quraysh, Thumamah performed umrah as
the Prophet, peace be upon him, had instructed him. He dedicated his
sacrifice to God alone.
Thumamah returned to his land and ordered his people to withhold
supplies from the Quraysh. The boycott gradually began to have effect
and became more and more stringent. Prices began to rise. Hunger began
to bite and there was even fear of death among the Quraysh. Thereupon,
they wrote to the Prophet, saying:
"Our agreement with you (the treaty of Hudaybiyyah) is that you should
maintain the bonds of kinship but you have gone against that. You have
cut the bonds of kinship. You have killedand caused death through
hunger. Thumamah ibn Uthal has cut our supplies and inflicted harm on
us. Perhaps you would see fit to instruct himto resume sending us what
we need."
The Prophet immediately sent a messenger instructing Thumamah to lift
the boycott and resume supplies to the Quraysh. This Thumamah did.
Thumamah spent the rest of his life in the service of his religion,
abiding by the undertaking he had given to the Prophet. When the
Prophet died, many Arabs began leaving the religion of God in great
numbers. Musaylamah, the impostor, began calling the Banu Hanifah to
believe in him as a Prophet. Thumamah confronted him and said to his
people:
"O Banu Hanifah, beware of this grievous matter. There is no light or
guidance in it. By God, it will only bring distress and suffering to
whoever joins this movement and misfortune even to those who do not
join.
"O Banu Hanifah, two prophets do not come at the same time and there
shall be no Prophet after Muhammad and no Prophet to share in his
mission."
He then read out to them the following verses of the Quran:"Ha Mim.
The revelation of this Book is from God the Almighty, the Knowing. He
forgives sins and accepts repentance. He is severe in punishment and
has a long reach. There is no god except Him. To Him is the journey's
end." (Surah Ghafir; verses 1-3).
"Can you compare these words of God with the uttering of Musaylamah?" he asked.
He then gathered together all those who had remained in Islam and
began to wage a jihadagainst the apostates and to make the words of
God supreme. The loyal Muslims of Banu Hanifah needed additional help
to stand against the armiesof Musaylamah. Their arduous task was
completed by the forces dispatched by Abu Bakr but at the cost of many
a Muslimlife.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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